Time Snap
by Stopwatch-To-Oblivion
Summary: One-shot featuring and OC. Bothersome Stopwatch won't leave Clockwork alone but he's not about to shove her away. She's important. But she doesn't know just how important. Important to time, important to people's lives, and important to reality.


_A one-shot plot bunny that attacked me as I was typing up my profile. Stopwatch-To-Oblivion, that's me. Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or anything associated with the show. Ah, and also, I have an OC in here…XD…Stopwatch. And, though it wasn't supposed to turn out that way, it's set before 'Fabric of Unreality'. You'll see what I mean in the end… _

Time Snap

"Stopwatch…" Clockwork said in a bored sort of voice, "I know you're there. Why don't you quit skirting around in the shadows? I don't bite. Often."

There was a grumble from a corner, a shuffling, and then another ghost stepped into the light. She wasn't very tall or pretty and she seemed to have a thing for shoving her black rimmed glasses up her nose when she was nervous. Her brownish hair had a hint of red in it in the right lighting, her eyes were a strange gray-blue, and her skin was tinted with lilac. Her outfit was a shoulder-less light blue shirt whose sleeves went down to her elbows and the hem stopped just above her midriff, a matching light blue skirt over half of which hung a dark blue cloth that swung around her ankles, tall black socks reaching past her knees, gray boots with black laces, silver clasps on her wrists (both with little silver clocks hanging off them), a worn gray scarf, and, on a belt around her middle, a black and silver clock whose hands spun around and around rather eccentrically.

"Hey Clockwork…" She muttered, shuffling her feet across the stone floor, looking a little embarrassed, "I was just dropping by to say hi."

Toddler formed Clockwork raised an eyebrow at her and she blushed furiously, her lilac skin turning more violet. Her hands clutched the clock at her middle and she traced one finger around its edge before freeing it and pushing her glasses up her nose. Clockwork shook his head, tapping his fingers on his staff,

"Stopwatch, why do you keep bothering me?"

"I told you!" She practically whined, "I want to help! I can control time too, you know!" She crossed her arms in a huff and the hands on her clock suddenly froze. Noticing this she unfolded her arms and tapped its silver surface, "Opps…" The hands started up again in their seemingly pointless swiveling.

"You don't control time," Clockwork, now a young man, shook his head, "At least, in the sense that I do. Your power is, not essentially, over time but of the very fabric of reality itself and your temper getting the better of you does not help."

"Then if I have power over the fabric of reality, isn't that dangerous!? Shouldn't you help me!?" Stopwatch, crossed her legs, floating in midair, glaring at Clockwork who had his back to her, "What if something bad happens!? I don't know how this power works! Clockwork!" She cried, "Help me!"

The Ghost of Time sighed, looking up at the screen he'd been previously occupied with before Stopwatch had so rudely interrupted him. Well, maybe it wasn't rude. Stopwatch herself rolled her eyes and floated over to hover beside Clockwork, looking at the screen as well, curiosity flickering in those gray-blue eyes of hers.

"Who is that?" She asked, her gaze following the antics of a black haired boy with brilliant crystal blue eyes who was laughing at something, "He looks cute."

"Danny Fenton," The Time Ghost changed form, this time into an old man, "Otherwise known as Danny Phantom, and, to a select few, Daniel."

"**That's** Danny Phantom!?" Stopwatch's mouth fell open and she leaned forward to stare at the screen, "No way…! He's only, what, fourteen?"

"Indeed he is…" Clockwork mused, glancing sideways at Stopwatch who was too preoccupied with watching Danny to notice, "You are not so different than he is."

"And how's that?" The ghost girl was still fascinated with watching young Danny on the screen.

"He has his own powers he does not know how to handle. He struggles." Clockwork sighed, turning away from the screen and floating a distance away, "And I have to keep and eye on him as well."

"So you do care." Stopwatch flipped over so that she hung upside down in the air, looking at him, "And I thought you were just a mean old ghost." She flipped upright, readjusting her glasses, and blinked her gray-blue eyes at his now toddler back, "So, are you gonna help me."

"No."

"Booger!"

"Do you know why?"

"Huh?"

"I asked you if you knew why I'm not going to help you?"

"No…"

"Because you do not need my help any more than Danny does." The Ghost of Time turned around, red eyes boring into her and she shrank back from his hard gaze, "The power of the fabric of reality lies in your hands, Stopwatch, but it is not out of your control. Reality is as fragile as a thread; easily swayed by outside forces, bent to the will of others, and could easily be broken and torn apart without the proper balance. You are that balance."

"I don't understand." Stopwatch was almost a silhouette against the screen.

"You are the Ghost of Imagination; your powers lie in the dreams and nightmares, the fantasies and ideas, of everything in this world. Imagination keeps the fabric of reality strong and without the power of imagination, reality would be torn asunder and life; or death; as we know it would cease to exist. You take the aspirations, waking nightmares, and thoughts of everyone around you and focus them, sending their energies straight to the fabric to strengthen it."

"But how can I have been doing something like that for centuries and not even know it?" Stopwatch asked, starring down at the clock on her waist, "And what does it mean when the hands stop spinning on my clock?"

"When the hands stop," Clockwork reached up and tapped a button on his staff, "The fabric is mending itself. Small tears do happen, that cannot be stopped, for there are other worlds besides our own."

"Then why does it happen when I get angry or sad or something?"

"Your emotions are linked to the state of the fabric of reality, Stopwatch, and so you are a part of that delicate balance." He looked at her, "If something were to happen to the fabric of reality, it could very well happen to you."

Stopwatch looked terrified for a moment and then she composed herself. But only for an instant. The hands on her clock stopped moving and she burst into tears, dropping to her knees on the stone floor, bawling like a child. The Ghost of Time, now a young man again, sighed and shook his head with a sad smile, floating a little closer to the ghost girl.

"C-C-Clockwork…!" She was sobbing, rubbing her eyes furiously, "H-how can I h-h-have this p-power and n-not even know ab-b-bout it for c-centuries…!?"

"Calm down, and quit making a spectacle of yourself…!"

"Can't h-help it." Stopwatch hiccupped and stood as the hands started spinning once again, brushing herself off, "Sorry."

Clockwork ignored the apology,

"You just didn't notice, that's all." He said, responding to her question, "Your powers don't flaunt themselves about, of which you should be very grateful. Otherwise you and the fabric of reality would be in a lot of trouble."

Stopwatch didn't say anything to that, just floated over beside Clockwork who was watching the screen again. Danny was sleeping, curled up beneath his blankets, snoring. She smiled slightly, feeling a rush of serenity and joy flood her from nowhere. Ah, happy dreams.

_Sweet dreams, Phantom,_ She thought, cocking her head as he rolled over and muttered something indistinguishable though it sounded vaguely like 'Sam', _I'll come visit you sometime…! We could have fun together._

"See you around, Clockwork!" Stopwatch drifted towards an open window, pushing her glasses up her nose and tugging at her scarf, "I'm going to go bug ol' Ghostwriter!" She paused on the window ledge, not looking back, "And thanks. Thanks a lot." And she was gone.

Clockwork smiled to himself. He was keeping a close eye on Stopwatch and she amused him, to say the least. And she was smart, smart enough to take care of herself and the fabric of reality. It was amazing how, though she had millions upon millions of lives sitting in her hands, she could act so carefree and innocent. Yes, she and Danny where a lot a like. But not **too** much a like.

--Four Years Later--

"Clockwork…" The Ghost of Time spun around quickly to see Stopwatch fall in from an open window and slam into the floor, "Help me…" Her voice was tight with pain, tears streaming down her cheeks, green ecto-blood pooling beneath her, "It hurts so much…"

"Stopwatch…!" Clockwork knelt beside her and gently rolled her onto her back, "What happened to you!? How did you get this…this…gash!?" 'Gash' seemed to be an understatement. A huge, nasty hole had been ripped in her exposed midriff, green oozing out slowly.

"I don't know…" Her eyes were closed now, her breathing ragged, "I was…going to visit…Ghostwriter…and suddenly…this cut…nearly passed out with the pain…had to find you…" A flash of gray-blue behind the glasses, "Clockwork…what happened…?"

"Someone tore a hole in the fabric of reality!" The Ghost of Time realized as Stopwatch groaned, he hastily used the ghost girl's cloth to stem the flow of blood, "Lie still for a while, Stopwatch, I'll be back…" He floated over to the screen and waved a hand over it; the scene flickered over different parts of the Ghost Zone and finally came to rest on a space. A circular opening, like with the Fenton Portal, swirled there but its edges were jagged, different and Clockwork could tell it did not open into the world where Danny Fenton lived. But how could he not have foreseen this!?

"Clockwork…!" Stopwatch moaned from the floor, "Clockwork, it's hurting us…close it quick…the imagination…it's not fixing it…something's keeping it open…!"

"It must be closed," Clockwork muttered, moving over to scoop up the Ghost of Imagination and set her in a more comfortable room, "And there is only one person I know who can do that…"

--DP--

"No Danny, this is us. And that's the new portal. And it's almost right next to Ghostwriter's lair so it's more like two and half hours away."

Stopwatch's eyes fluttered open as voices rang in through the slightly open door. Silently slipping from her bed, wincing at the pain in her side, she crept over and peered through the space, scanning the room. Clockwork was starring at his screen, blatantly ignoring a trio nearby who seemed to be looking at a map. Stopwatch's eyes widened. That was Danny Phantom! She would recognize him anywhere!

The dark skinned boy next to Danny groaned, "Guys, this is insane. Even if we do find the portal, there's no way we can close it again! We don't even know how it opened in the first place!"

Danny was trying to close the rip in the fabric of reality!? He could do that!? She was about to push the door open and tell him to hurry because she was in so much pain when Clockwork suddenly decided to take interest.

"He has a point, Phantom," The Ghost of Time said, floating behind them.

"Tch, I don't care how we're going to close it! I'll think about it when we get there! Right now it's the matter of getting there!" Danny scowled and Clockwork smiled slowly.

"Let me be of assistance," The Time Ghost spun his staff around and a blue-purple portal swam into existence, "This will take you about ten minutes away from that strange, new portal. It's the least I can do for the three who are going to fix the fabric of reality."

"Thanks Clockwork," Tucker saluted him as Danny and Sam nodded their thanks and the halfa scooped them up again, "Wait a minute, fabric of-." But then they disappeared into the portal and Tucker's voice was cut off. The portal vanished.

"It's rude to eavesdrop, Stopwatch," Clockwork said without looking away from the spot where the three had stepped through the portal. Stopwatch jolted and stepped sheepishly out of the room, a hand laid gently on her side.

"You really think he can close it?" She asked, the fingers of her other hand pressed against the silver cover of her clock.

"Of course he can," Clockwork smiled, "He's Danny Phantom."

-------------

_Like? No like? Kind of a stupid ending. "Because he's Danny Phantom", Clockwork would never say anything that cheesy. Would he? _

_Anyway, please leave me a review and tell me what you thought! Leaving a review will help to fix the fabric of reality and help med poor little Stopwatch! Save Stopwatch and the fabric of reality! Quick! _

_Wait a minute…I'm Stopwatch…oh crud…_


End file.
